Queer rodeo hits the silver screen with 'National Anthem'

Almost 20 years after the release of “Brokeback Mountain,” director Luke Gilford set out to make a modern queer Western that isn’t a tragedy.

Almost 20 years after the release of “Brokeback Mountain,” director Luke Gilford set out to make a modern queer Western that isn’t a tragedy. 

His new film, “National Anthem,” follows a 21-year-old construction worker named Dylan, played by Charlie Plummer, who helps provide for his mother and younger sibling. He takes a job at a queer ranch, called House of Splendor, where he is able to explore his identity, including his sexuality. Here, he meets a love interest named Sky, a transgender woman played by trans actor Eve Lindley.

The movie features vivid, colorful and bold characterizations of a queer rodeo community in New Mexico that implore viewers to consider the mythology of America.

Gilford grew up in Colorado, where his father was a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He said the awareness of the “primarily patriarchal, Christian, and white domain” in mainstream rodeo affected him as he grew older, but he never lost his sense of wonder for the scene. 

In 2016, he discovered the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA), which hosts educational programs, events and rodeo competitions.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/queer-rodeo-movie-national-anthem-rcna161848

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